


Some Things Don't Heal

by BrokenWings0712



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angels, Angst, Demons, Grief/Mourning, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 23:56:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13775313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenWings0712/pseuds/BrokenWings0712
Summary: The final battle between Team Free Will and Lucifer. Canon divergent. Told from Castiel's POV.This is not a happy story.You've been warned.





	Some Things Don't Heal

"Cas!"

The frantic cry came from a dark corner in the small room, and Castiel rushed to reach the man before it was too late. His coat had a large rip in the side, courtesy of one of Lucifer's now dead followers, and blood spatter was flung in random patterns across his clothes and face. Dirt was smudged across his forehead, and his tired eyes searched the shadows for the hunter he knew was waiting for him.

It was an ambush. Team Free Will 2.0 had gone into the house expecting to fight Lucifer and no more than a handful of angels and demons in order to save Mary, who they were told was being held here.

Then the doors slammed shut.

Then the lights went out.

Then the windows wouldn't open.

Then the angels and demons started filling the kitchen, all armed with angel blades and the power of a juiced up Devil behind them. The crowd forced the team into a tight circle, their shoulders nearly touching as they faced their enemy. 

Dean had been the first to attack, slicing into an angel's gut with a brutal war cry. The others followed suit, but they were quickly separated by the sheer mass of their foes pushing and pulling at their bodies as they fought. Castiel had put everything he had into the battle, cutting down several of his brothers and sisters along with more than a few demons. A few skilled fighters got in some lucky shots, and Castiel was grateful he'd gotten out with only minor scrapes and cuts.

The others hadn't been so lucky.

Jack had been pulled away from Castiel almost immediately, and he later heard Jack's broken sob as he called for his father. He'd fought to get closer to the boy, and they fleetingly made eye contact before a blade pierced Jack's chest, his body dropping to the ground with a sickening thud. Castiel gritted his teeth and quickly destroyed several others as the grief wracked his body. 

The hope and fear in Jack's eyes when he saw Castiel was seared in the angel's brain. It was what fueled his strength as he pulled Lucifer's blade from his own shoulder and pushed it into his brother's chest, the archangel's hands still wrapped around the handle below Castiel's own. He didn't even blink when light burst from Lucifer's body and exploded out into the room. He sneered at his brother's body as it lay on the scarred wooden flooring as he turned to face the horde of fools behind him. He was prepared to do whatever necessary to reach the Winchesters. 

The rest were easy to overcome, but Castiel took a rare pleasure in removing their insides as he dug through what was left of the crowd. He entered a new room and snatched the collar of an escaping demon, hauling him to the nearest wall and slamming his back against it, cracking the plaster in the process.

"Where are they?" Castiel growled, his blade pressed into the soft flesh beneath the demon's jaw. The demon quaked with fear as he pointed to an open door. Castiel rammed the blade up and dropped the demon before the light in his eyes stopped flickering. 

He threw the door against the wall and readied his blade as he descended the steps into blackness. Castiel had been going slowly, stepping carefully around the various bodies on the stairs, but that was when he heard it.

"Sam, no, no, no. Stay with me, Sammy. C'mon, keep those eyes open for me, huh? Sam? Sammy? Oh, God, no. Please, Sam!"

"Dean!" Castiel yelled, his voice hoarse and rough with emotion. He was too late. Why was he always too late?

"Cas!" 

Castiel pressed a hand to the wound in his shoulder where Grace was seeping out and stumbled around a shelf. 

Then he saw them.

A tiny window at the top of the basement wall let in a circle of moonlight, just enough to illuminate the horrible scene in front of him. A demon lay on its back at Castiel's feet, Mary's body on top of it, and her blood was pooled around them. She'd gone out defending her boys. Fitting, most would say. She was a warrior first, but she would always be their mom, and a mother protected her young even if it meant giving her life for theirs. 

A trail of dark blood, like someone had been dragged, split the silver circle of light in half and stopped at the corner where Castiel could see the tangled legs of his friends, his brothers. He fell to his knees beside Dean, and the Righteous Man looked to his angel with fear and horror and pain written all over his expression. He was cradling Sam in his arms, but the younger brother's head just lolled to the side when Dean offered him up.

"Cas," Dean pleaded as blood trickled from his mouth, "you've gotta save him. You gotta bring him back." 

Castiel swallowed and clenched his jaw. He knew it was a long shot, but what would he not do for these people? He took the hand that had been covering his own wound and pressed it to Sam's forehead, focusing all of his energy into saving the man.

Nothing. 

"I, I don't understand," Castiel rambled. "It should have worked! Why didn't it work?"

"Cas." 

Dean's voice was much quieter now, and his eyelids drooped as Castiel took in his wounds. They were...everywhere. Deep gashes and stab wounds littered his body, and blood had long since soaked his jacket and shirts. He had a blown out knee that twisted at a sickening angle. His jaw was beginning to swell from where someone had landed a solid punch, and sweat glistened on his brow in the dim light. Castiel tried once more to heal his friend, but only the minor cuts and scrapes closed up, leaving the larger ones open and bleeding. 

"Dean, we have to get you out of here. I can't heal you on my own. We need help!" Castiel told him urgently. 

"D'ya ice the Devil?" Dean asked as he watched Castiel attempt to move his brother from Dean's lap.

The angel nodded and threw Dean's arm over his shoulder. "He's been taken care of."

"Good. Ah!" Dean cried out when Castiel lifted him. "I can't--" wet cough "--I can't leave him!"

Castiel continued to drag the hunter towards the stairs. "If we don't leave now, you won't survive your wounds, and I'm not letting you die!" he growled as they left the basement. 

The doors were now unlocked, and the short trip to the car outside was uneventful save for Dean's protests at being saved, but Castiel loaded the broken hunter into the front seat and tossed the first aid kit at him before climbing behind the wheel.

Luckily there was a hospital nearby.

Luckily it was in the rougher side of town, so the staff didn't ask too many questions. 

Luckily a woman working in the Emergency Department had come across angels before.

Luckily she was on their side.  
_____________

Castiel pulled the Impala into the driveway and gathered the groceries from the trunk before heading up to the small farmhouse. It was a comfortable spring afternoon, not too cold and not too hot, and he could just make out the beginning hues of what was to be a beautiful sunset at the back of the house. He opened the front door and carried his haul to the kitchen before putting everything away. The back door had been left open a crack, and Castiel could see Dean's feet enter and leave the space as he swayed in the porch swing. Dinner could wait, he decided before grabbing a couple of beers from the fridge and popping the top on each. 

Castiel stepped outside and let the old metal screen door fall shut behind him before holding a drink out to his friend. Dean took it with a grateful smile and continued to stare out at the sunset.

"Ten years tonight," the hunter murmured before taking a long pull from the bottle in his hand. He'd said it lightly, almost conversational in tone, but Castiel recognized the pain in his eyes and the way Dean massaged his knee, as if the very mention of that night caused it to ache more than normal.

Castiel nodded and took a sip of his own beer. He wasn't fond of the taste, but it was something Dean had once shared with his brother, and so Castiel played the part.

Dean ran a hand down his face and released a broken sigh. The pain was still just as fresh as the night he'd last held Sam, and Castiel wondered how much longer Dean would survive like this. 

It wasn't much of a life. Morning medications with breakfast, Castiel would leave for his job at the Quick Mart, Dean would hobble around the house and tinker on things or do research for other hunters like Bobby had so many years ago. Castiel would return home and prepare a meal, more medication, then they'd watch the sun go down together before heading inside. Castiel would find a chore to do near the bathroom in case Dean needed help bathing, and then they'd retire to the bedroom where Dean would lie in bed while Castiel took his position in the chair beside him and watched over his charge. Usually he was able to keep the nightmares away, but sometimes even good dreams led to the hunter waking up in tears.

They hadn't crossed paths with another angel since the night they beat Lucifer. No demons, either. No more apocalyptic battles needed to be fought. They just existed together in this endless cycle of daily routines and grief. Occasionally they'd share a smile or even the rare joke, but mostly it was vacant looks and longing for the past.

"This is my fault," Castiel told Dean as he squinted in the orange light.

Dean waved the angel over to sit down and clapped a hand down on his thigh. "Some things don't heal, Cas."

**Author's Note:**

> This story took a different turn than I expected. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Let me know what you think!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!


End file.
